Encounters
by Hume
Summary: They had crossed paths several times, fought a bit and discovered similarities. But what was hidden inside mattered most. Was it mere curiosity...or more? Second meeting: Gujarat, August 1587.
1. China, June 1584

_the soul series and all its characters © namco, ltd_

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**Encounters**

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_**-China, June 1584-**_

Kilik was lying flat on his back. This was his favorite spot of the Ling-Sheng Su Temple. It was the topmost pillar of the temple, overlooking the great Yangtze River.

"Phew," he felt the soft wind cooled the sweat around his cheeks, "what a view."

No matter how many times he tried, he never ceased to awe at the view beneath the Ling-Sheng Su Temple in summer. It was crystal clear blue, had thick white cottons as clouds and a flock of northern birds immigrating to the south.

But the beauty did not stop there.

The Yangtze River looked exceptionally beautiful from above. It was located at a narrow and one-way gorge engraved between the mountains, with harsh streams and no man challenging them. The river was usually covered with mountain mist, but the summer gave Kilik a cloudless view of the main watercourse.

Kilik, a boy who loved being surrounded by nature, enjoyed his private time there. He was apparently overwhelmed by the fact he was to inherit the Kali-Yuga, one of the Ling-Sheng Su Temple treasures. He did not like being the one to stand out in the crowd, though he realized he had defeated almost all monks the temple and received favoritism by higher monks and envy from his peers. There was no way he would not wield the sacred bo staff.

_But there's Xianglian. Everything will be fine._

As Kilik got up to sit, he glanced at the river. He blinked several times in disbelief. Never in his sixteen years of life in the temple had he watched two people crossed swords on a raft carried by the coarse streams of the Yangtze River.

He examined carefully. It was a Chinese man—clearly seen by his attire—with a nunchaku and a girl with brown hair tied in braids, wielding a weapon he had never seen before. It was considerably large, visibly taller than the girl herself. In fact, one third of the weapon was the blade alone. Impressively, the girl did not have a hard time throwing attack after attack. But as the battle was just about to spark his interest, the poor girl fell from the raft.

Wasting no time, Kilik descended. He tumbled from pillar to pillar, rock to rock. He thanked his extensive training in the temple, where he learned not to reject the challenges of nature yet embrace them.

Kilik finally made contact with even ground. He saw the knocked out warrior, her head laid on one side over stretched pebbles. She let out a few gags, looking for support with her skinny arms. He yelled from afar for proof of life.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," she rubbed her soaked forehead, revealing a clear, jade complexion. "thanks."

"Um," Kilik blushed. He was _blushing_. He had nevermade eye contact—let alone talk—with the opposite sex, other than his sworn sister. The young monk cleared his throat for lucid articulation.

"What were you doing back there? You could've killed yourself." He tried to sound casual.

"I need his raft." The girl's honeyed voice did not fit her barbarious-looking weapon. "That's the only way I could cross China safely."

Kilik rose his eyebrows. "From that stunt you pulled, the river didn't seem safe to you."

"Oh, I mean," She was now compressing her braided hair. Drops of water trickled from wet strands. "Without the confiscation of my zanbatou."

Kilik repeated the name aloud in his mind. _Zan-ba-tou_. He never heard of it before. As the name rang several times in his mind, he took an intent look of the weapon. It was about the same length of the Kali-Yuga. The handle had a dull color of scarlet, with cream-colored orbs as the partition to the blade. The blade, while glimmered beneath the sunlight, had bare yet visible tarnishes. This girl was no stranger to weapons, he concluded.

He mutely took a mental note-to-self; _Ask the elders_.

"By the way, do you have any vessels? I really need to get out of here—" the girl heaved, coughing for air, "—_fast_."

"No..." The entire scene seemed bizarre to him. A young girl, a beautiful one at that, with a gargantuan weapon, attempted on traveling across China, and _fast_.

"Damn!" The brunette cussed inaudibly, "Looks like I have to stay and wait for a bypasser."

"Sorry, but," Kilik did not want to interrupt what sounded like a well-planned adventure. "I've never seen anyone cross the Yangtze River..._ever_."

"Shut up!" The girl did not look pleased. "This is no good..."

Waves of questions invaded Kilik's puzzled mind. Just when he was about to express them, a firecracker in broad daylight broke the awkard silent.

"Oh no," The girl flashed an alerted look. "That's my queue."

"What the—"

"Thanks for the help, local boy!"

"H-Hey, wait!"

Even after drowning the cruel torrents of Yangtze, the stranger still had enough energy to sprint her way out of the valley.

If not because of his state of bewilderment, Kilik would have been a more avid runner. He could scarcely make out the logic of what just happened.

"You could've at least leave me your name..."

_**-tbc-**_

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**a/n**  
I've been trying to write again recently. Hopefully the first chapter doesn't suck! I wanted to make it a one-shot at first, but ended up being lengthy and boring. I already finished the next chapters, but I want to see how you all think of it :) Enjoy!


	2. Gujarat, August 1587

_the soul series and all its characters © namco, ltd_

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**Encounters**

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_**-Gujarat, August 1587-**_

A nineteen-year-old Kilik cannot stop but to think why everything in Gujarat was expensive. Be it food, weaponry, accessories, even furniture. This was his first time in a hustle bustle for a market. The last three years of his life were spent in seclusion of the Himalayan Mountains, training under the supervision of his latest master, Edge Master.

Gujarat's port was lively and full of motion, contrast to the tranquility of the Proving Grounds where he trained. He had never seen so many people. Clusters of men and women were packed in every point of the town. Burly, copper-skinned bypassers would shove his shoulders carelessly as if it was a "Hello." Discounts could easily be marked by swarming sailors over a vendor, like bees to honey.

While looking for breakfast and Maxi, who probably spent the night in his Ryukyu ship, he was disturbed by a strong scent of Indian curry from a nearby stand. Although he knew spices would do no good to an empty stomach, he was practically addicted to the local cuisine since the first bite.

After sitting down underneath the tent with his favorite dish, the several seconds in advance felt surreal. A hooded figure came his way, and as the siluette passed, so did his food.

Kilik, who was too hungry and dumbfounded to be alerted, quickly got to his foot and chased the crook, accompanied by helpless shrieks of the curry stand owner, "Thief! Thief!!"

"Hey! Stop!!"

The figure did not stop. It was still holding Kilik's plate of curry while running.

Fortunately for Kilik, he was blessed with longer legs and stronger lungs.

"Got ya!" he grabbed the stranger's robe, but noticed the person inside escaped from underneath.

"What the?"

"Stop her!!" Kilik heard the citizens among him shouted and pointed fingers to the thief.

The thief was in fact a woman, and a beautiful one at that, as Kilik noticed her looking back and forth. She had long brown hair done in braids, an Far-East-influenced red dress and—Kilik flinched—a strange-looking weapon he could have sworn he had seen it before.

_Isn't that?_

Suddenly, as if justice prevailed, the brunette crashed a group of barrels, resulting with the curry's demise. Kilik, who was at first irritated, became more interested in getting to know the girl.

"Didn't mean to bother you, miss, but," Kilik tiptoed slowly toward her, "it's my food you just stole."

The stranger stood up silently to the level of his ears. At first, she looked delicate, with a slender built. Had not she had small yet muscular arms, Kilik would not raise an eyebrow.

Her face flashed a look of regret.

"I'm sorry," Kilik finally saw the look of her dulcet face, which—albeit pretty—stroke as familiar. "I lost my money a few days ago and haven't eaten for three days."

"No sweat." He smiled, feeling at the slightest he was trying to woo her, which was unlike the monk at all. "Ports are homes to world-class criminals, after all."

The girl looked up to him and gave a smile back...yet faded instantly as her eyes fell to the Kali-Yuga. She promptly jumped back. In mere seconds, Kilik found the eye of her blade inches before his Adam's Apple.

"Who are you?" she snapped.

"W-What!?" Kilik furrowed in bewilderment.

"Who sent you? Was it my father? Or was it Hwang!?"

"Excuse me, but--"

Before he could finish, the girl already raised her weapon, spinning it with one hand to another, forming vertical continuous rotations with her glaive.

Kilik, who was too familiar with the move, quickly took his Kali-Yuga out and guarded from the attack. _Phoenix Roar._

Something in the back of his mind flickered. He saw this weapon three years ago, the morning before the Ling-Sheng Su temple was sent to blasphemy by the shards of Soul Edge. He would never forget that day. The day he went insane and killed many of his sworn brothers, including Xianglian, who sacrificed the Dvapara-Yuga for his well being. It was like a virtual movie constantly replayed in his mind.

And part of it was...for reasons Kilik did not comprehend, the girl with the zanbatou. Perhaps because she was the first girl Kilik made contact outside temple grounds, or maybe the weapon...he did not understand clearly.

"Freeze!"

A group of Indian guards disturbed their one-sided duel. Kilik, clueless of what he put himself into, listlessly lifted both of his hands.

"You! The thief!" The guard with the biggest turban pointed his kopis at the girl.

The brunette groaned. Dismissing Kilik's presence, she sprinted toward the guards. The frontmost line performed short-ranged slashes at her, which she dodged skillfully with a sidestep, resulting a sequence that happened in vivid, slow motion.

She swung her large weapon in an orchestra of two consecutive horizontal attacks. The first was done gracefully as she sidestepped her way to the crowd of guards. The next blow was continued as she bended her knees on the ground, practically sitting as the attack followed. The clean and skilled move successfully wiped out the hovering guards about her.

Kilik and the remaining guards had their jaws dropped agape. _Gale Divide...impossible_.

The girl did not leave a moment's hesitation. Right after she leaped back to her fighting stance, she stepped on a barrel as a jumping support and plunged into the air. She spun her body three times, resembling a revolving wheel with the blade tip of her zanbatou at the outermost orbit.

Kilik had never seen this move, yet was impressed nonetheless.

After the girl landed on the ground, she sighed in relief, only to find her peace disturbed by another flock of Indian guards. Dismissing the thought of wasting energy on useless fights, she quickly ran away, ignoring Kilik completely.

"Hey! Wait!"

He had too many questions to ask to her, but as flabbergasted as he was, his legs ceased to chase her.

As the bustling guards passed his way, he looked toward the ground. An emerald glint hinted within the dirty pavestones. He took it to his palm and inspected.

"An emerald earring."

Kilik silently stowed it in his pocket.

_**-tbc-**_

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**a/n**  
Finally, an action-packed chapter! I just _had_ to put a scene where one of them noticed some similarities in skill. Truthfully, I didn't know how 'Gujarat' came into mind. Sorry if the ending sucks. We all know how Mi Na loved to runaway from things :P


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